Memories and Broken Promises
by Hikoru Aniki
Summary: SakuLee, LeeSaku Memories and broken promises, that’s all they leave you with.


Memories and broken promises, that's all they leave you with.

But a memory is nothing but a faded photograph of what was, but never again will be, torturing in the pleasure, relief in the pain.

And a broken promise?

That's nothing but words, and as eloquent as they may be, words are nothing but air blown from lungs to create a recognizable sound. Without the actions, it's nothing.

They leave you with absolutely _nothing_.

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Sakura had once believed she was in love. She wanted to be just like a heroine in a romance novel, and she fixed upon Uchiha Sasuke as her target. He looked perfect for the part. Dark hair, dark eyes, brooding look. Definitely the tortured, affected youth simply waiting for a woman to shine light into the dark abyss of his life. Little did she know back then that he would grow up to become her worst nightmare.

Sakura had always fought with Ino over 'her Sasuke-kun'. He had estranged them so far from each other that it took a momentous event for their friendship to recover. But she hadn't seen that until it was too late. Sasuke had never shown any interest in her, not even really the slight inclination that she was his friend, however she had chosen to ignore that, determined that Sasuke would end up being hers, and hers alone.

Sakura had still been just an ignorant little girl.

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And she grew up to be an ignorant teenager as well. No matter how many times he pushed her away, _did she even notice_, she still kept her faith in the dark Uchiha, stubbornly believing that he would still end up loving her.

Oh how wrong she was.

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Uchiha Sasuke left the village of Konoha in the early morning. Sakura was one of the few, if not the only other villager awake. And as she saw him, she believed that she could convince him to stay, that he would heed her words and stay out of any lingering feelings she may have had for her. And again she was wrong.

_Didn't it ever occur to her that she really never __**knew**__ the Uchiha boy?_

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Sakura had heard the gossip. Everyone thought she was crazy for still believing in Sasuke, _didn't she know he was a traitor?_. Even Gai's team knew what had conspired on that dark morning. To Neji, it was despicable, her still placing her faith in someone who betrayed his village. Neji considered Sakura immeasurably weak, and therefore not worth his time. TenTen merely shook her head, she believed it was hopeless and silly, but she remembers how it is to love someone so much that you have to believe in them, or you have nothing left.

But it was Lee that really knew. He was in love with her, had been ever since the day she met him, and was willing to die for her. Sakura, however, disregarded him as foolish. When Sasuke left, she was in complete despair. She thought she no longer had her knight in shining armor. But Lee was always there. Although she still pined for her first _was it even love? _she recognized Lee's virtues and considered him a close friend. He never judged her for how she felt. And she was thankful for his presence.

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Years pass, and Sakura and Rock Lee are inseparable. It has been 4 years since Uchiha Sasuke turned traitor. Four years of Sakura waiting. But he didn't come for her. Lee, her constant confidant, is no longer the object of distaste that he once was. Without Sasuke there for her to compare, Sakura can no longer remember what she found so repulsive.

She's still in love with the man who left.

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A few months later and something happens. A simple B rank mission, with a surprise meeting with an old friend. And Sakura makes the most important realization of her life.

She **doesn't** love him.

She feels no pain at the fact that he is almost as cold as ever, it takes her all of two seconds to move on. And there's only one person she wished to be with at the moment. After all, Uchiha Sasuke deserved to be despised, he left her with only the memories that she had of when they used to all be silly young kids with dreams of seemingly impossible proportions. He made her no verbal promises, only in her mind were the implications of a promise. But to her, every last gesture, every last word, was a broken promise.

And after all, broken promises and memories were absolutely nothing.

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Age 16, Sakura Haruno finally finds out what makes the hero in a romance novel. And she realizes he was staring her in the face all along.

"Hello Sakura-chan, how are you today?"

"I'm perfect Lee-kun. Just perfect."


End file.
